Coldwater was as general as I could go here with no vague ‘freshwater’ category but:
I’m looking to one day keep some small freshwater aquariums, with a big goal being a nice large blackwater tank for a betta, kept as they should be!
I know very little about aquariums in general, so I figured this could be a good spot to swap tried and true tips, good brands for hardware, etc.
If no one ends up using the thread since it is vague, it can be deleted, no worries!
Always cycle the aquarium! Every good fish keeper I have ever heard will tell you that. Also, a good test kit is a MUST, especially when cycling. Knowing the parameters of your tank is really important, and is one of the first things to look at if anything is off.
Also, don’t put goldfish in a ten gallon tank. It won’t end well.
I second having a test kit & reviewing what roles KH, GH, pH, nitrites, and nitrates play in water quality. As said, cycling the tank is a must. When you are just starting out, without any fish yet, it’s possible to do what I think is called a ‘soft-cycle’ (not sure if that’s the correct term) using materials to get the cycle started instead of fish poo/pee, definitely research that. Live plants (depending on species) often undergo a ‘melting’ phase after being added to an aquarium- learn about this and get your plants fully established prior to putting any animals in. I recommend buying plants from an online supplier and not a big chain store. I have used all kinds of filters and most of them work just fine, they just have differing otis and cons. Make sure you have a ‘drip loop’ where your aquarium electrical equipment is plugged in so you don’t electrocute yourself (I have done that as a child and it sucks). If you need to change conditions in the aquarium, do it gradually.
If you use tap water, make sure you know how to treat it properly. Research the different methods of filtration and pick an approach, making sure to consider the appropriate levels of surface agitation and water flow strength. ALWAYS fill the aquarium completely full with water for at least 48 hours to test for leaks before doing anything else. Know how many fish and of what species and size can be housed safely in the desired aquarium size and don’t exceed that. Don’t use random material from outside in your aquarium. Do research on ‘low tech’ aquariums, but I suggest not starting out by attempting a filterless tank, it’s a more advanced goal. Larger tanks are easier to keep stabilized, though they will still require water changes. More frequent water changes of smaller amounts are much better than Single, very large water changes in most situations (sometimes you need to do huge changes if something bad has occurred). Do not skip out in regular water changes, especially if you have delicate tank residents. If you are just replacing evaporated water, use distilled or RO water, not tap water.
Thicker substrate layers will allow more room for beneficial bacteria to grow. Never use or keep anything (including fish medications or household pipes) with copper in the tank or water added to the tank, as it will kill any invertebrates. Often ‘pest’ snails will arrive on live plants when purchased, I suggest learning about snails in aquariums and decided what your approach to pest snails will be. Any tank previously used for anything other than freshwater fish (e.g., rodents, reptiles) cannot be used for fish. When adding tank inhabitants, always consider their temperament and compatibility. Once your tank is established, if you want to add additional fish or invertebrates, I suggest having a quarantine period. As mentioned, if you keep goldfish, you’ll need a big tank- they poop so much! Make sure you provide the fish with adequate places to hide. If you have any super small or delicate tank residents, make sure the intake to your filter is modified to be safe for them.
Many keepers have a ‘clean up crew’ in their rank to help break down waste/algae/dead plant material, e.g. plecos, otocinclus (probably misspelled), corydoras, snails. etc. I like nerite snails because they eat the algae that may grow on the glass and they can’t breed in fresh water and overrun your tank.
Don’t keep a betta at room temperature and use a heater with a reliable thermostat, buy bettas from a breeder or fish shop and not from a big box pet store chain, make sure you clean and get most of the tannins out of your botanicals prior to putting them in the tank. Bettas REQUIRE access to the surface- if they cannot take breaths if air, they will drown. House ALL bettas alone- betta sorority tanks are suitable for advanced aquarists only, and still often fail. Males will kill each other and eventually females as well. Marimo moss balls in aquariums are a controversial subject, educate yourself about them prior to deciding to purchase any.
I know a moderate amount if a lot of different aspects, did you have a particular aspect you wanted to discuss? Sorry I’m too lazy to edit my comment, I hope I made sense despite jumping around a lot.
Look up proper nitrogen cycles for freshwater tanks specifically. Useful test kits like ammonia, nitrite and nitrate are key to see if the nitrogen cycle is completed. Use of rocks like dragon rock, etc, will help in keeping up a nice bacteria colony, substrate typically doesnt matter unless you grow plants but i prefer a nice black flourite. Adequate flow for the species you keep but if bettas are the goal it would be low. Dont skimp on filtration and pump, thats the life of the tank. If you get serious into the hobby I’d invest in a nice RODI system and setup the proper carbon filter for chlorine/chloramine. Your city water supply would be able to tell you which one they use in water treatment. For tap water make sure you get a product called prime👍
All very helpful, thank you all! So its sort of like allowing a bioactive terrarium establish with the clean up crew and plants before adding the animals, except the clean up crew is…bacteria!
Honestly I’m just looking for somewhere to start, so this is all very helpful!
Though my main interest is in blackwater tanks, do you know if tanins will impact those bacteria cycling processes you mentioned? Probably, I think tanins make the water a bit more acidic?
Tannins will definitely make the water acidic which can affect the bacteria. There are some decent filtration media that will effectively remove tannins and i like media due to being able to control the amount removed by adding more or less. Chemipure has some great filtration media with a wide variety from fresh to full blown reef.
With black water tanks, it’s my understanding that you want to let the botanicals sit in water in advance of introduction to the aquarium. The amount of tannins they will release if this isn’t done can be very high, and they may not sink for awhile if not water-logged. you can always add more botanicals if you desire higher levels of tannins. As mentioned, definitely keep an eye on pH and temperature, especially if you want to keep shrimp.
Basically the advice I’m seeing boils down to “set up a tank with hardscape and hardy plants to monitor the nitrogen cycle and allow for healthy bacterial growth, then mess with it and wait again, before adding fish”
?
I do like the idea of being able to still get something pretty (an unstocked tank) while safely learning about all these cycles long before potentially subjecting a fish to my lack of brain cells 
Doing this, you will need some way to start your cycle and get beneficial bacteria growing. There’s quite a few ways/suggestions online. Some may seem a bit odd, but some are pretty normal.
The absolute easiest way would be to take some filter media from another established tank and adding it to your system. This would mean fish could go in right away, to provide the bacteria food to eat from their waste.
Otherwise if you’re doing a slow cycle without the addition of anything, you would want to be very cautious of how many things you add at once. Your tank may be cycled, but If you add too much at once you risk crashing your cycle, and you have to start the process over.
Cool thank you! i’ve heard that for a first tank or to speed up the porcess there are jugs of beneficial bacteria that you can add. If that’s the case, but you didn’t have fish yet to add ammonia for the bacteria, would you need to…add ammonia? This feels like a dumb question, but I assume the bacteria in an unplanted/unstocked tank would need food?
Dr. Tims makes a fishless cycle that has ammonia too add. Ive met him personally and picked his brain, its really good stuff👍
This is similar to when we would get cured live rock that was established, literally could add fish immediately
Couldn’t remember the brand, or I would’ve recommended that as well. Good call!
You could do something as simple as feeding an empty fish tank. The food would eventually breakdown and provide food for the bacteria.
Great I’ll write that down thank you!